Salford City have been knocked out of the Vertu Trophy after a dominant win from the visitors, Rotherham United, in a 7-2 blowout.
In just the eighth minute, Cole Stockton played a wonderful ball through to Cescay from the half-way line, who then worked his way down the wing but fell just short of the mark in the box, but sweetly followed up by Nico Siri with a right-foot finish in the 6-yard box just past the outstretched arm of Ted Cann to put the Ammies in front.
In a quick turn of possession, Josh Ayres made a run through the middle of the Ammies’ back line, winning the ball and striking it with a right-footed shot from outside the box, finding the top right corner, making it level within 18 minutes.
A great run from Jack Holmes gave him space to play it into James Clarke, who fired it into the left-hand side of the net off the hand of Mark Howard, who was beaten by the left-footed shot from the centre of the box in 22 minutes.
Siri found himself through once again shortly after the Millers took the lead, firing a shot straight at the face of the goal but saved by a strong hand of Cann.
Cesay once again proved himself an issue as he worked his way through the backline of Rotherham, ending it with a well-placed pass to find the feet of Cole Stockton in the middle of the box, who placed it beautifully in the bottom left corner in the 31 minutes.
During the back-and-forth play, Kev Berkoe put in a heavy tackle on Ar’Jany Martha, giving the Millers a free kick from a dangerous position. Josh Benson was the one to take, burying it comfortably in the top right corner just out of reach for Howard in the 39 minutes.
Just after the half, a scramble in the box on 47 minutes saw Salford close to an equaliser in a game full of goals, but eventually got caught offside as the ball trickled into the back of the net, denying them the chance.
The game stayed all in Salford’s half as both teams found their feet in the second half, and soon the pressure piled on. Benson took a wonder strike from more than 40 yards out, finding Howard off his line as it floated into the back of his net to make it 4-2 in 53 minutes.
Benson then found a goal to take the match ball home, once again finding the net, but this time from six yards out. A close-range header from a well-timed cross from Liam Kelly made it 5-2 in the 55 minute.
Dan Gore found a goal after coming off the bench, with a great initial run and a pass to Liam Kelly, who found Gore again, putting him into position for a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to put the visiting side six ahead.
Dean Gardener finally closed out the game, grabbing his first goal for the Millers and putting a five-goal lead in front of the Ammies with a sweet pass from Dru Yearwood to find Gardener, who took a right-footed shot on the edge of the box, finding the bottom corner.
Salford City will look forward to their next fixture after finding themselves out of the running in the Vertu Trophy and instead focus on the FA Cup draw against another League One side, Leyton Orient.
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